By Rebecca Drew
THIS BODY positive fitness fanatic with a whopping 955K Instagram followers had cruel bullies SPIT ON HER at school for being āfatā and has been criticised for her curvy weight gain transformation and told that she canāt be her size and fit and healthy ā despite working out up to SIX DAYS A WEEK.
When growing up, IT worker, Nicole Herring (23) from London, UK, was bullied for how she looked throughout school and when her body started to develop more curvy than her friends, she was labelled āfatā by nasty bullies who threw drinks on her and spat at her.
This had a major impact on Nicoleās mental health and self-confidence as she would often comfort herself with sugary snacks when she came home from school in tears and would always make sure she was covered up in loose clothing.
In 2013 Nicole joined a gym with the aim of losing weight and would do an hour of cardio a day and over time she started to change her mindset towards her body. After a few months, Nicole started lifting weights and was surprised with how she could completely transform her shape by using them and can now lift up to 110kg.
In June 2016, Nicole started her Instagram account to chart her progress at the gym and before long realised that instead of losing weight, she was gaining it. However, she felt more confident and with her body than ever before and started to break outside of her comfort zone with the clothes she wore. Nicole has gone from 10st 3lb and a UK size 10-12 to 12st 12lb and a UK size 14-16.
Before Nicole would have two slices of toast for breakfast, two sandwiches for lunch during the week for lunch or roast dinner or takeaway at the weekend, and for dinner she would eat large portions of homemade meals or have two to three takeaways a week and snack on chocolate, cakes and sweets. Now Nicole has cereal six days a week for breakfast, allowing for a carb-based breakfast at the weekend, meat and vegetables or salad for lunch, a homemade meal of meat and vegetables for dinner with sweet potatoes instead of white and allows herself one takeaway a week. She snacks on fruit, salad and rice cakes during the week but allows herself a cake or chocolate at the weekend.
Despite working out five to six times a week, Nicole has people ask her how she can be her size yet still go to the gym and even tell her that she canāt possibly be fit and healthy, but Nicole is eager to breakdown the gym stereotype and wants to encourage other people of all shapes and sizes to love themselves for who they are and make the gym inclusive for all.
āThe bullying started off about my teeth being wonky and having acne. I was called every name possible and when I got braces and my medication for my skin, the bullies had to find something else so I was then bullied for being āfatā,ā said Nicole.
āMy group of friends were slim so when my body started changing and becoming more curvy, the bullies noticed and started using it against me. I used to cry when I got home from school some days because I was spat on, had drinks thrown over me, physically abused by the boys and verbally abused most days at school.
āIn my case, I used to binge on snacks high in calories and sugar to process my emotions which didnāt help my attitude and mental health towards my body. I saw I was getting stretch marks at a very young age which upset me even more because no one else I knew had them. Iād cover up my body as much as I could when I would go out with friends because I didnāt want others finding out and using it against me.
āI hated my body and I continued to hate it until I started going to the gym. I started going to the gym for the wrong reasons with an unhealthy mindset. Whilst going to the gym, I started viewing my body in a different light and my mindset was gradually changing. I started to become more comfortable within myself no matter how my body looked.
āWhen I was slimmer and thought I was āfatā I would cover up in baggy clothing and would only wear clothing like skater dresses and skirts and oversized shirts so no one could see my stomach rolls or back fat. During my journey to self-love and confidence I started venturing out to different clothing.
āI remember trying on my first bodycon dress and actually feeling good in it. Now all I wear is bodycon items and crop tops. Iām no longer afraid to show people that I have body rolls or stretch marks. A few years ago, I wore a bikini for the first time on a beach and I felt like I had achieved my biggest fear yet. Bikinis were never something I owned because I hated my body but now I have too many.
āOne of my biggest achievements is no longer caring what others have to say about me. Iāve learned that no matter what you do in life, there will always be someone who will put you down. Itās my life at the end of the day and I need to do whatās best for myself.ā
Nicole has become an Instagram sensation with her 955K followers and she spoke about how she deals with any negative comments she receives about her body and her love for the gym.
āI try to educate people in hopes they can see where I am coming from. Majority of the time, the people who criticise me donāt go to the gym which shows their lack of understanding. I find that people who are into fitness understand everyone has different goals and the main benefit of working out is to make a positive change to our lifestyle,ā she said.
āI explain to others that the gym for me personally is a lot more than just physical. Gym is therapy for me, and it has been since joining. Itās become my second home and itās had such a positive impact on my mental health.
āI want to try and break down this stereotype because we all have our own different versions of what we class as fit and healthy. Others need to understand that anyone who is going to the gym no matter what shape or size you are, weāre making a difference to our health whether itās a small change or not.
āWhen I created transformation posts, I gradually saw I was getting bigger (more fat and muscle) and I was totally ok with it. I never intentionally wanted to gain weight itās just happened over time.
āI think part of it is due to the fact I donāt bother to track my food now because I donāt want to put pressure on myself or focus on the numbers and scales. I eat intuitively and just make sure Iām eating more healthier foods throughout Monday to Friday and then on the weekend I allow myself to eat whatever I want.
āIāve always gone to the gym five to six times a week depending on how my body feels throughout my whole journey. I donāt believe in all these fad diets that arenāt maintainable. If I want to eat a doughnut or two then I will. Iāll never feel bad about it because life is too short to not enjoy the things you love and I know from experience that if I cut out everything I love I just end up binging on it eventually.
āSince creating my Instagram there are way more accounts dedicated to self-love and body positivity now, which is great. Thereās women and men of all shapes and sizes that have accounts and help others feel good about themselves which is what we need.
āItās definitely made me feel a lot more comfortable within myself knowing that there are others going through the same emotions and feelings I do. The confidence other women put out and the love and support I get from my following, inspires me to carry on doing what I do.
āOver the period of having my Instagram, my confidence has increased dramatically because Iāve allowed myself to be put out there at my most vulnerable and show off my āimperfectionsā.ā
Finally, Nicole shared her words of advice to people who might be apprehensive about joining the gym.
āJust go for it. Even to this day I worry when I go to a new gym, especially those that have a reputation where mainly body builders and those who compete go. As I am curvy and not lean in the slightest, I always get a little nervous walking in thinking people will judge me but in reality, no one is judging because theyāre focused on their workout,ā she said.
āSome other advice I give is to find a gym that is quite big and 24/7. My gym is over four floors and is 24/7 so this way people are more spread out. You will also get to know what days and times are the busiest if you wanted to avoid going at peak times.
āMy last piece of advice is to take some equipment that can be used for a variety of exercises into a quiet area of the gym if you are not feeling confident or comfortable.
āSelf-love and body confidence grow overtime. Itās not something you can magically fix overnight. Your attitude and behaviour have to start thinking more positively about your body.
āTurn your negative thoughts into positive ones. Have a healthy relationship with food. Wear clothing that you feel confident in.
āUnderstand that what you see on social media is far from reality, many people edit their pictures to hide āimperfectionsā and only the best photos are shown with the perfect lighting and angles.
āLastly, follow people on social media that are positive influences and make you feel good about yourself.ā
For more information see www.instagram.com/nlhfit